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Vintage Television and Video Vintage television and video equipment, programmes, VCRs etc. |
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27th Jun 2019, 12:33 pm | #21 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote Slidertogrid: "We sold Ferguson sets right up to the time they did the dirty on dealers by suppling Dixons with TX 100s badged as Logic."
Ferguson Limited did themselves no favours with that Dixon deal. To placate the independent dealers the firm cobbled up the Ultra U2001 and U2201 models. A 20" model fitted the TX90 chassis and a 22" model with the basic TX100 chassis. No stand was supplied with the sets so after some protests from dealers Ferguson supplied a stand with each set. And the set had to be cheaper to buy in order to compete with Dixons. Sold my first TX9 portable TV set in late 1979. In those times the sets were delivered to the customer and tuned in all in with purchase price. Imagine any firm doing that nowadays for a small TV set! DFWB. |
27th Jun 2019, 12:38 pm | #22 |
Hexode
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Royal Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 471
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Having removed the rear cover last night, I took a couple of pictures.
For one, it's remarkably dust free in there and two, is it my imagination, or are there two thyristors in the PSU(?) Most of the IC's I can see (without heatsinks) are ITT, the delay-line has 'Mullard' written across the top and the CRT has a Thorn label but, made in Japan. Hmmm, do we have a MKI, MKII or MKIII chassis before us? Mark
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27th Jun 2019, 1:00 pm | #23 |
Nonode
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Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
It is either a mk 1 or 2, as both these used the same Thryistor PSU.
The way to quickly determine which of the MKs it is, is to look at the colour decoder chips, the MK1 used a UPC 1365 chip, the MK2 used a Philips/Mullard TDA3560 chip. The MK3 also used the same Philips decoder chip but the PSU was completely redesigned using a much more compact chopper transformer and the ubiquitous TDA4600 chopper chip.
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27th Jun 2019, 1:00 pm | #24 |
Dekatron
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
It's a Mark 1 chassis with thyristor power supply. The other thyristor functions as the over-volts crowbar.
NEC colour decoder IC. DFWB. |
27th Jun 2019, 1:12 pm | #25 |
Nonode
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Location: Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
I cannot see the colour decoder chip in the above pics Fernseh.
It might actually be a MK2, because the silk screen for the diodes is marked D x and likewise transistors as TR x, where as on the mk1 they were marked with the prefix W x and VT x respectively. Although I cannot say for certain if that designation convention actually coincided with the release of the MK2.
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27th Jun 2019, 1:13 pm | #26 | |
Nonode
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote:
I've heard Radio Rentals used to recondition the Baird branded ones, putting them into new cases in the 1990s to look more modern. I would like to own one, but they don't seem to turn up often at sensible prices.
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27th Jun 2019, 3:30 pm | #27 |
Dekatron
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Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Ferguson Ltd continued to distribute the Ultra branded products through wholesalers, so in effect the brand replaced Marconi after the EMI licence expired.
I do remember models 6745 and 6749 which were just Ultra badged versions of the Ferguson 3745 and 3749, those were the sets that were equipped with the horrible 9800 series chassis. Never saw any Ultra badged Thomson sets. The brand name Ultra still exists as the defence and security company Ultra Electronics Ltd. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Electronics https://www.ultra-electronics.com/ DFWB. |
27th Jun 2019, 3:43 pm | #28 |
Dekatron
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote Red to Black: "I cannot see the colour decoder chip in the above pics Fernseh."
Hi Baz, TCE introduced the Philips TDA3650 decoder chip to allow easy interface with a teletext board. Not easy with the uPC1365 IC although I seem to remember Decca managed to use the NEC chip in the text version of the 110 chassis. Or did they? It's getting on for forty years ago. DFWB. |
27th Jun 2019, 4:18 pm | #29 | |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Congleton, Cheshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote:
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27th Jun 2019, 4:23 pm | #30 | |
Dekatron
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Location: Near Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote:
Following this, a large part of what originally was the old Ultra electrical and electronics operation was spun off as a new, independent company called Ultra Electronics plc. Later, TI was acquired by Smiths Industries. Ultra Electronics plc is still in business. I think Thorn Consumer Electronics (TCE) stopped using the Ultra brand in the mid to late 1970s. They also stopped using HMV and Marconiphone brands around the same time. Marconiphone was TCE's wholesale brand, whereas Ultra and HMV were traditionally sold through appointed dealerships. |
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27th Jun 2019, 4:28 pm | #31 |
Dekatron
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Location: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Ferguson made a neat 18" model which used the TX9 chassis. Chunky wood cabinet. Was it model 3760?
TX9 portable TVs could be modified to work from a 12volt supply. DFWB. |
27th Jun 2019, 4:38 pm | #32 |
Dekatron
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Location: Near Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
It was indeed model 3760, which first appeared in their 1981 range brochure.
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27th Jun 2019, 6:20 pm | #33 | |
Octode
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Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote:
They bought the early metal chassis TX10 sets from Radio rentals. This was the set with the black plastic front and the Videocolor PIL tube rather than the more often seen 30AX tube. They made a good job of them, the chassis was cleaned in ( I think) an ultrasonic cleaner, all the known common faults were 'done' a regun tube was fitted and the whole set built into a monitor style cabinet with a glass panel in front of the screen. A new Konig type remote was supplied. I bought them ten at a time and had very few problems, we used them as budget rental sets. We got around seven years out of them on average before the regun tube started to look poor. There was talk of RR buying them back as re rental sets but I don't think it got as far as that. Supply of the donor sets ran out and the project came to an abrupt halt. |
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27th Jun 2019, 10:53 pm | #34 |
Nonode
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Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Thanks for filling me in, I think they were mentioned in another thread, but I couldn't find it.
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28th Jun 2019, 6:57 am | #35 |
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
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28th Jun 2019, 1:23 pm | #36 |
Nonode
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Location: Stockport, Cheshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Thanks for the link.
Talking of recycled TVs, I heard that Duke's of Romford Road used to sell a reconditioned chassis which had been "upgraded" to run a larger CRT than originally specced. The customer had to supply the case & possibly assemble the other parts like a kit. I wonder how long these lasted, & if any have survived.
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28th Jun 2019, 2:14 pm | #37 |
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
The Tristars used the Baird set with the single button tuning system - the one with the orange LED. The board was hung on the side of the cabinet.
I came across the advert for these in Television magazine. It didn't actually say that the chassis was, effectively, second-hand. Mind you, they were quite reliable as the kniown faults were ironed out. Not like the Pye 11U 'recon' that simply had a regun 20" tube and a smart cabinet! |
28th Jun 2019, 2:43 pm | #38 | |
Octode
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Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote:
I remember seeing one of the recycled Pye 11 U sets I think it was British relay that did them as Decontrolled rentals. They looked really smart then when you took the back off ! Rich |
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1st Jul 2019, 9:40 pm | #39 | |
Pentode
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Stansted, Essex, UK.
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Re: Ferguson 3790 & Rediffusion Switcher 'saved'
Quote:
Whist messing about with an old TV aerial found in my Dads garage I found that, as well as the London channels, if I pointed the aerial in the right direction I could pick up Southern TV. This was very handy as at the time I was rather keen on Joanna Lumley aka Purdey in the New Avengers. I noticed that in the 'regional variations' TV listings in the paper, Southern TV would be running repeats of the New Avengers that were not on LWT. When the time came, I'd disconnect the house aerial and plug in my temporary antenna. Many hours were spent admiring the (slightly snowy) ms Lumley on that TV set |
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